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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22459543">Fangs of Evil</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strife667/pseuds/Strife667'>Strife667</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mysticons (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Crime, Gen, Major Original Character(s), hopelessness</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 17:14:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,248</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22459543</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strife667/pseuds/Strife667</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This take place between "The Mask" and "Save the Date".</p><p>After all the hardship and missions she had to go through, Arkayna still has not broken Dreadbane's spell on her parents. When crime lord Creed Slitherwick kidnaps  the King and Queen and strikes a deal, will Arkayna go behind everyone's back to save them? And what does the callous Creed really have planned for the Fierce Dragonmage?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Tense Training Session</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The vast realm of Gemina seemed a lot more peaceful since the evil queen Necrafa had become nothing more than a horrific memory. And it was all thanks to the mighty defenders of the realm, the Mysticons. In particular, Mysticons Ranger and Dragon Mage, who in truth were fraternal twins or the Royal Family, Zarya and Arkayna.</p><p>Both used all powerful rings to morph into twin dragons in order to take down both Necrafa, and her diabolical Spectral Dragon. It was a real earthquake for sure, not only a did they have to stop the apocalypse, but they also found the revelation that the two Mysticons in question were in fact related. It was a lot to take in for sure.</p><p>In the meantime, nighttime befell the wondrous metropolis of Drake City. Aside from the normal hustle and bustle, the city seemed quiet. Not much villainous activity took place, and not many dark forces were at work. Yet, even in such times of peace, trouble could still spark at a moment's notice. In the ever so secret stronghold of the Mysticons, the silence of the halls was broken by the sound of clashing metal and magic projectiles.</p><p>It was a free for all match, last warrior standing would be the winner. The Mysticon's ever so diligent solon, Zorlon, along with his two assistants Malvaron and Doug, were watching with much anticipation to see with of the girls would be the victor. Poor Doug was just biting his own nails, the suspense to see the winner was killing him.</p><p>Zarya was going one on one with Arkayna. Both the twin sisters appeared evenly matched at first, both trading blows but neither were able to land a good hit.</p><p>"What's the matter, Arkayna? Getting sleepy?" Bantered Zarya, hoping to get Arkayna's goat. Ordinarily, Arkayna would banter back, not afraid to spark friendly competition. Yet, to Zarya's surprise, Arkayna didn't say a word, instead wearing an intense look on face. When Arkayna pushed Zarya off, pretty harshly no less, the younger twin stared as Arkayna stood firm, in a battle stance.</p><p>Zarya smiled a little, ready get back into it. "Ready to train for real huh? Fine by me!" With that, Zarya charged and the two engaged once more.</p><p>Meanwhile Em was battling Piper. This battle was a bit more one sided, favoring the faster, more agile elf. For sure Em had an advantage when it came to brute force, but it meant nothing if she couldn't land a single hit on Piper.</p><p>"Hold still you slippery elf!" Em said, running out of breath after a while of futile swings of her sword.</p><p>"Awe, wittle dwarf having a hard time keeping up?" Piper playfully mocked, still full of energy. It was times like this when Em somewhat envied Piper.</p><p>After dodging a blast from Em's sword, Piper jumped high in the air and threw her hoops at Em, Zarya, and Arkayna, all of which narrowly dodging the attack. The three girls thought they were safe until the hoops bounced from the walls and back at them.</p><p>Em got tagged by one of the hoops from behind, knocking her off her feet. Meanwhile, Zarya deflected the other hoop with one of her magic arrows. Arkayna, however, just raised her staff and incinerated the incoming hoop without even flinching. Both Zorlon and Malveron raised their eyebrows at the display. Both were impressed, yet at the same time concerned, at Arkayna's approach.</p><p>"Bugbears!" Em shouted, embarrassed that she was caught off guard. And so there were only three. Zarya knew she would have no problem with Piper, having known her for at least three years. As Piper somersaulted in the air, she dived down at Zarya, only for the the more street smart girl to dodge the attack and catch the elf girl in a bear bug hug, lifting her from the ground.</p><p>Yet, before either could do much else, both were caught off guard by Arkayna. Both defended themselves as if their lives depended on it as Arkayna as swiping her staff at them fiercely.</p><p>"Whoa, ease up!" Cried out Zarya, trying hard to block Arkayna's strikes.</p><p>Not wanting to waste anymore time, Arkayna blasted a fire ball at both Piper and Zarya, both landing hard on the ground. As both looked up, they saw Arkayna's staff pointing at them, glowing. Arkayna herself had a stone cold look on her face.</p><p>Everyone in the stronghold seemed nervous, no one knew what Arkayna was going to do next. Much to their relief, Arkayna merely planted her staff firmly on the ground, standing tall and stoic.</p><p>"I win.", Arkayna bluntly said.</p><p>"So you did." Replied Zorlon, with a stern raise of his eyebrow. He then tapped his own staff on the ground twice. "That will be it for training today. Rest up, tomorrow is a new day."</p><p>And so Aryana stormed off without saying so much as a single word. As everyone left the room, Zorlon could not help but stroke his goatee, with a concerned look in his eyes.</p><p>"That seemed a little... intense." Malveron said, as he was walking with the three other girls.</p><p>"That would be putting it mildly." Replied Em, with an understandably worried look.</p><p>"For a moment there I thought she was gonna..." Piper said nervously. The poor elf looked spooked. Sure, she had seen Arkayna angry multiple times, but she had never seen her this tense before, much less toward her fellow Mysticons.</p><p>"Hey don't worry, Pipes." Zarya assured, placing her hand on Piper's shoulders. "Arkayna would never go that far." At least, that what Zarya hoped. She did not want to show it to the others, but she too was rather unnerved by her sister's behavior. <em>What's wrong with you sis?</em></p><hr/><p>Arkayna, still in Mysticon form, barged into her room, going straight to her mirror. Without putting much thought into it, she untied her ponytail and let her ludicrously long hair flow, shaking her head a little to loosen her hair a bit. As she stared at her reflection, she took a deep breath and began talking to her reflection.</p><p>"You are the Dragon Mage. You've got power that you could only dream of. You and your sister destroyed Necrafa for Gygax's sake!" That last sentence resulted in Arkayna banging her fists on the top of her shelf. She then put on a disheartened expression. "So then why are your parents still bone statues?"</p><p>Arkayna had never felt such a strange combination of anger, and sadness. Could nothing be done to save her parents? It did not seem so, especially with all powerful codex completely drained of power, not to mention Dreadbane went missing. With all these thought in her head, Arkayna was beginning to fear the worst.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Growing Ambitions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Undercity, the ever bustling mean streets that never slept. It had no shortage of thieves and thugs. Some did so for survival, others for power. And in the dark underbelly of the Undercity, one individual was known by many of the inhabitants as the most ruthless crime lord in all of Drake City... Creed Slitherwick.</p><p>In the darkest corners of the Undercity, there was what appeared to be a weathered apartment complex. In actuality, this was Creed's secret base of operations, the interior of which looked quite nice yet had an eerie ambience to it. There Creed sat at his desk, counting all the gold coins he gained from poor unfortunates who were under his debt.</p><p>Ordinarily, he'd be happy while counting his profits. However, this time his demeanor was rather irritable. His mood did not brighten when that nuisance, Mathis, walked in.</p><p>"Yo Mr. C, got some more loot for ya." Mathis said, with a smug grin on his face. He tossed a small bag of gold to Creed, who poured out the spoils on to his desk.</p><p>"Well done. Here's a little incentive for your trouble." Creed tossed Mathis one piece of silver. The young ruffian was not happy with this one bit.</p><p>"What?! This is a joke right? One lousy piece of silver? C'mon Mr. C, ya gotta give me more than that!"</p><p>At Mathis's last statement, Creed whipped his tail on the floor, causing the teen to jump a bit. Creed was definitely not in the mood for this.</p><p>"Perhaps you would like me to pay you a different way, dear boy?" Creed said, in a tone as cold as ice.</p><p>Behind Mathis, Creed's two henchmen, Charlie and Nixon, popped their knuckles, ready to beat the young man to a bloody pulp. Understandably, Mathis was scared stiff.</p><p>"Uhh... on second thought, I'm good. Yeah, I'm a one silver piece kinda guy!"</p><p>"Good, now leave me in peace."</p><p>At that last sentence, Mathis decided it was time to go, and so he did, as quickly as he could. Nixon and Charlie began to get worried. They have seen their boss angry before, but never for a whole two weeks.</p><p>"What seems to be the trouble boss?" Started Charlie, in a gravely cockney tone.</p><p>"Yeah, you seem to be in a bad mood all the time lately" Added Nixon, in a deeper tone.</p><p>Creed then got up from his chair and walked straight to a portrait of himself, with a look of malaise.</p><p>"Let me ask you something, boys. Is it fair to have worked so hard to elevate your station in life, only to have it snatched away by some no account street rat who turned out to be royalty by chance?"</p><p>"Of course boss."Charlie and Nixon said in unison, quick to agree with their boss. Creed's expression then intensified.</p><p>"Then why is it that Zarya, a lowly rodent who had consistently stolen my riches for a living, SUDDENLY GETS IT ALL!" Irrationally, Creed torn down his own portrait, smashing it into bits, causing both anaconda twins to step back a bit. "That nuisance had nothing when she first arrived, she was forced to forage for scraps for her next bite. And now... now it turns out she's a princess?!"</p><p>Charlie and Nixon were definitely afraid, but at least they understood where Creed was coming from.</p><p>"Yeah, the tables have certainly turned." Said Nixon.</p><p>"Guess all those years of treating her like mud will bite us in the butt eh?" Charlie Added.</p><p>"Exactly you clods! Now she has the power to put us all in prison. Crime, my entire livelihood, in jeopardy now that Zarya is in power." Creed then projected a picture rom his phone, from week old news of Zarya and Arkayna, alongside their friends Piper and Em. "Just look at her, I'll bet that impudent rat is enjoying her royal life. I'll bet she thinks she's all high and mi..."</p><p>Suddenly, Creed noticed something very interesting about this picture. He looked at the two princesses, along with their two best friends, together.</p><p>"Wait a minute. Charlie, project the Mysticons image for your phone."</p><p>Charlie was not quite sure why Creed wanted him to project said image, but he wasn't about to object his ruthless boss. Without a second thought, Charlie did as he was told. Creed then compared the two images together. There were differences of course, but they were still similar... very similar.</p><p>"Could it be?" Creed kept looking back and forth from one image to the other, putting two and two together. "The Twin Princesses are... Mysticons?" Creed then wore what appeared to be a frightful expression.</p><p>Charlie and Nixon thought their boss was going crazy at first. Although, in hindsight, they could see a crazy resemblance. Now the anaconda twins thought they were really in trouble, especially if Zarya was a Mysticon.</p><p>"This... is... perfect" Suddenly, Creed's look of fright, turned into a malicious smile. Now Charlie and Nixon were confused. Why was this something to be happy about?</p><p>"Nixon, call up Kymraw." Creed said as he went to his desk.</p><p>"Why boss?" Nixon could not help but inquire.</p><p>"Let's just say, if all goes according plan... Drake City, as well as all of Gemina, shall bow before a new king."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Things Are Different</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Piper couldn't sleep. She had been tossing and turning with her eyes open a good majority of the night. When she had a good look at her foz clock next to her, it was a little past midnight.</p><p>"Ugh, come on sun, rise already!" Piper said in a quiet, yet irritable tone. Being such an energetic elf, she always looked forward for what the next morning would bring. As a result, she had a hard time sleeping at times.</p><p>Finally, she just got out of bed and started pacing the floor. There had to be something to spend her excess energy. Then, an idea hit her, her ears perked up and a smile ever so wide. Without a moment to spare, she quickly, yet sneakily, made her way to Zarya's room, being careful not to wake anyone else.</p><p>Like a pint sized ninja, Piper rolled into Zary's room, tip toeing around the mess inside. There Zarya slept on her hammock, snoring a little loudly, and her right arm hanging from the side.</p><p>"Pssssst, Zarya." Piper whispered. Zarya barely budged,though she groaned just a little. "Pssssssst, Zarya!" Piper whispered a little more loudly, tapping on Zarya's shoulder until she began fluttering her eyes.</p><p>"Ugggghhh" groaned Zarya, a little groggy. "Huh, wha... Piper?"</p><p>"Oh goody, You're awake!"</p><p>"Yeah, I am... now!" Zarya flicked Piper's forehead in response. Suffice to say, the former street rat did not appreciate being woken up. "What's the deal Pipes, don't you know what time it is?"</p><p>"Sorry, I just couldn't sleep. I thought, maybe we could do something?"</p><p>"Get some sleepy time pollen or something. Good night."</p><p>As Zarya turn to face the wall, her eyes closed, Piper was stroking her chin for a way to get her elder sister figure out of bed. She then smiled mischievously as one idea popped into mind.</p><p>"We could sneak out into the Undercity, see the sights?"</p><p>Zarya opened one eye and smirked. If there was one thing she could not say no to, it was a trip to her home turf.</p><p>"Get dressed Pipes, the Undercity it is." Zarya said with a proud smile. Piper quietly cheered and both prepared for the night out. Zarya woke up her faithful foz, Choko, who was quick to join them.</p><hr/><p>Even at midnight, the Undercity was ever so lively, and Zarya absolutely loved it. She, Choko, and Piper were having the time if their lives. The y spent time seeing all the sights, playing all sorts of games they use to play on the streets, and eating snorg balls to their heart's content.</p><p>As Zarya finished her last snorgball, using the stick as a toothpick afterwards, she quickly noticed some familiar faces. It was none other than Neeko and the Undercity Kids, scrambling about, scavenging.</p><p>"Yo Pipes, check it out." Zarya pointed.</p><p>"Hey, it's Neeko!" Replied Piper. "It's been soooooo long since we've seen him. Let's say hi!"</p><p>Without putting much thought, Piper ran that direction, Zarya following behind.</p><p>"Neekooooooooooo!" Piper called out loudly. Recognizing the voice, Neeko turned around, only to be tackled by the over enthused elf, who was hugging him tight. "Oh Neeko I'm so glad to see you it's been too long!"</p><p>"Nice... to... see you too... Piper." Neeko struggled to say. "Now... would you mind... releasing me!?"</p><p>"Oospie, sorry."</p><p>As Neeko caught his breath a little, he hugged piper back.</p><p>"As I was saying, glad to see you Piper, it has been a while since I've seen you and..."</p><p>Neeko trailed off upon seeing Zarya following shortly after.</p><p>"Yo Neeko, wazup?" Zarya said.</p><p>"Oh, hi... Zarya." Neeko sheepishly said.</p><p>Silence then ensued, as Piper was looking at Neeko, then Zarya, and so forth. What's going on? Was all Piper and Zarya could think about. What was meant to be a friendly greeting turned awkward as he and the rest of the kids were staring specifically at Zarya.</p><p>"Um, what gives? Was it something I said?" Zarya said, somewhat narrowing her eyes at the shorter boy.</p><p>"No, no, that's not it!" Neeko quickly assured, holding his hands up. "Don't get me wrong, it's great to see you and all..."</p><p>"But?" Zarya inquired, looking confused (not to mention irritated).</p><p>Neeko took a small sigh before continuing much further, trying to think of the best way to say it. "But, you're a princess now. It just seems a little weird for us to be hanging around... royalty."</p><p>"What? C'mon guys, I may have a new position and all, but I'm still me."</p><p>"We know." A redheaded elf girl said, who seemed younger than Piper. "It's just... not the same now that you're living it large."</p><p>"Yeah, meanwhile we're still on the streets searching for scraps." A young boy with brown, spiky hair spitefully said. "Doesn't seem fair if you ask me." That remark earned a firm elbow nudge from Neeko.</p><p>"Hey, Zarya can't help any of that!" Piper defended, with Choko following suit screeching at the boy in protest.</p><p>"Easy Pipes, you too Chokster." Zarya quickly intervened. She could not exactly blame the young boy for the remark. After all, not too long ago, she was exactly in his shoes, feeling the same way about Arkayna and the rest of the Royal Family. Nevertheless, she felt that remark could not go unanswered.</p><p>"Look, Drew, don't you think I know what it's like to have to scavenge for a living? It sucks, no one knows that better than me." Zarya's tone then turned a touch colder. "But let me ask you something. Do you think it was fair that I was abducted? Twice? Once from my blood family, and second time from my adopted family?" She then pointed her finger. "So don't complain to me about what's fair, got it?"</p><p>"Y-y- yeah... got it." The young boy, apparently named Drew, quickly Replied. Neeko was glad to see Zarya's intimidation had not changed.</p><p>Zarya then walked up to Neeko and patted his shoulder. "Good talkin' to ya Neeko." She then pulled out a small bag full of gold pieces from her bag, handing it to Neeko. "Keep the magic real."</p><p>And with that, Zarya, Piper, and Choko went on their way. Neeko then gestured his group to move out. He looked on at the girls, relieved that Zarya still has their back.</p><hr/><p>After a what appeared to be two hours, Zarya,Piper and Choko ended their night out at their old hideout, which was an old, abandoned apartment building. It was not much, but to them, it felt like home.</p><p>"Ha, good times huh Pipes?" Zarya said as she lightly stroked Choko.</p><p>"Yeah." Piper said somberly, to which Zarya was confused.</p><p>"What's wrong?"</p><p>"I just didn't like what that brat Drew said to you. What was suppose to be a nice reunion, just turned sour."</p><p>Zarya then wore a downer expression. "Yeah, it could have gone better for sure. But, what can I say? Things have changed." Zarya chuckled at that last statement. "Seems like life keeps on changing for me."</p><p>"What do you mean?" Asked Piper.</p><p>"One day I was a village girl, without a care in the world. Then suddenly I'm a pirate, then a thief, then a hero of legend, and now a princess. The last one probably being the biggest change of all."</p><p>"And being a Mysticon isn't?" Piper questioned, "I'd think that would be a pretty big deal."</p><p>"Don't get me wrong, I never expected to become a Mysticon, but at least people treated me the same, secret identity sure helps with that. Now, since I'm a princess, people have been treating me different... even Kitty."</p><p>"You mean your, "girlfriend"?" Piper said in a teasing tone. Zarya smirked a little at that.</p><p>"Yeah... at least I hope so. Thing is, we've been hanging out less lately. We still keep in touch, but I haven't seen her since Necrafa died. Not mention all the attention I get at the palace, escorts and service and all that. And well, you've already seen how the other street kids see me now. At least some of them. It's like I'm a different person now."</p><p>Piper had not really thought of it that way. Granted, her life had not been always sunshine and rainbows either, but at least everyone treated her the same throughout her adventures. Yet, Piper wore a big smile on her face regardless.</p><p>"You said it yourself, Zarya. You're still you, no matter what changes happen in your life." Piper then gabe Zarya a big hug from the side, a tight one at that. "Besides, you still got me."</p><p>Zarya wrapped one arm around the young elf. Perhaps she was just overthinking it.</p><p>"Welp, we better get back to the stronghold now." Zarya chuckled. "Zorlon will have a field day if were late for training tomo-"</p><p>Just before Zarya could finish, her phone rang. When Zarya saw Arkayna's name, she was rather apprehensive, given their previous training session.</p><p>"Yo." Zarya answered.</p><p>"Where the hell are you?!" Arkayna yelled, causing Zarya to cover her ringing ears. "Meet me and Em at Gorgon Avenue, now!"</p><p>"Relax girl, what's the deal?"</p><p>"Kymraw's at it again, and she's got more orcs than usual."</p><p>"Don't worry, we'll be right there." Zarya hung up and turned to Piper. "So much for sleep Pipes, it's magic hour."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Plan in Motion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On the roads of the ever bustling Drake City, Kymraw and her large gang of orcs were leaving mass destruction in their wake.</p><p>"Ride road rangers!" Kymraw said, holding her ax high into the air. "The roads are ours tonight!"</p><p>Hot on their tail, Arkayna and Em, who were already in their Mysticon forms and on their trusty griffins, unleashed a series of blasts from their weapons, trying to take out as many orcs as they could. Unfortunately, they missed almost every shot, only adding the destruction.</p><p>"Ugh, Gygax damn it!" Arkayna shouted in frustration. "What's taking Zarya and Piper so long?!"</p><p>"You called them about a minute ago, right?" Em said. "They should be soon."</p><p>"They better be." Arkayna said, with a tense look on their face. Against her better judgement, she and Izzy dove right down at the road rangers.</p><p>"Arkayna wait!" Em pleaded, but it was no use, Arkayna was too quick. "Grrrr, at least we know stubborness is one thing you twins have in common." She irritably said under her breath. With that, she and Topaz dove down to join her.</p><p>Kymraw wore a big smile of malice, she was thoroughly enjoying the destruction she was causing. "Kymraw should do this more often." She chuckled.</p><p>"Hey, Kymraw!"Arkayna called out, quickly catching the troll's attention. "Pull over now, and I might consider not grinding your bones to paste... and that's a big maybe."</p><p>"Ha! Kymraw never was afraid of dainty Dragon Mage, and Kymraw never will be!"</p><p>With but a swipe, Kymraw shot out a wave of energy that Arkayna and Izzy narrowly dodged. Arkayna's expression tensed up even more. It was definitely on.</p><p>"Fine then. To tell you the truth, I was kind of hoping we'd do this the hard way!"</p><p>Turning Izzy hard, she used all the griffin's weight to ram Kymraw from the side, pushing her right into an old warehouse. Kymraw flew off her bike, crashed right through the wall, and fell hard on her stomach. Arkayna, however, jumped right into the the large opening, and landed firmly on the ground, her fist pounding the ground.</p><p>Kymraw brushed the dust off as she got off from the ground, laughing while doing so.</p><p>"Best crash ever!" The Kymraw said, her fists in the air. Arkayna then pointed her staff at the troll.</p><p>"I'm giving you one last warning. Give up, or you're in for a world of pain." Arkayna said in an ice cold tone.</p><p>"Oh?" Questioned Kymraw. "And how you do that when you outnumbered?"</p><p>Before Arkayna could blink, she was surrounded by a large number of Kymraw's vicious gang of orcs. Despite the odds, Arkayna seemed unsettlingly calm, and ready to fight. Two orcs already tried swiping at Arkayna with their weapons, only to be met with her staff slamming hard in their faces, knocking out a few teeth in the process. A few more were blasted back by her staff before one tried to cut her with a knife, which Arkayna narrowly managed to dodge. She grabbed the orc, and threw him across the warehouse. She then felt a little irritation on her cheek. As it just so happened, the orc with the knife left a small cut, as a small amount of blood seeped out. She did not let this deter her, and instead kept fighting.</p><p>Yet, overconfidence was getting the better of Arkayna. Before she knew it, one orc caught her off guard, as he bear hugged her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides, and chomped down hard on her shoulder, causing the trapped princess to scream in pain. Arkayna struggled to break free, but the harder she fought, the tighter the hold became, and the more the orc dug his sharp teeth into her shoulder. In front of her, another orc held a knife that spelled certain death for the fierce Dragon Mage.</p><p>Yet, before the orc could deliver the fatal blow, a timely shot from one of Piper's golden hoops caught the advancing orc off guard, bounced off the wall, and hit the orc that was holding Arkayna, forcing him to let her go. Arkayna then fell to the floor, panting, holding the bloody bite wound on her shoulder with her hand. Then, she realized a foot standing next to her. It was none other than Zarya, who looked pissed at her. She held her hand out and helped her sister up, and started to rant.</p><p>"What were you thinking?! Taking on Kymraw and her goons on your own? You should have waited!"</p><p>"You were taking too long. If you hadn't been wasting time doing whatever it was you were doing we wouldn't have this problem!"</p><p>"Listen you-"</p><p>"Um guys," Em intervened. "You think we can continue this family squabble later?!"</p><p>Zarya indeed had a few choice words for Arkayna. But Em was right, before they knew it, all four Mysticons were standing back to back, surrounded by orcs.</p><p>"Em's right, time to kick ass and take names!" Zarya said, a new fire in her eyes as enemies were advancing.</p><hr/><p>Back at the Royal Palace, spoiled King Gawayne was pacing the floor, wondering when Butler was going to show up with his desert.</p><p>"Ugh, why do we even keep that butler around? He's like never around when I need him."</p><p>Before the young king could think of anything else, two "guards" appear before him.</p><p>"Your majesty," one guard said, with a hint of an accent. "we have to insist you vacate this throne room, we have to.. uhh... inspect it and make sure it's safe."</p><p>"Oh really?" Gawayne said, looking suspicious. The two guards then seemed a touch nervous, not knowing what to expect. "Well it's gonna have to wait, cuz I'm not leaving without my sundae!" The two guards them sighed with relief. Then, the other of these suspicious guards tried a different tactic.</p><p>"Whoa! Is that a zit on your forehead?!"</p><p>That was apparently enough to send Gawayne out, as he screamed and spoke subconsciously of his forehead, running straight out of the throne room. With no time to spare, both guards smile smugly and revert to anaconda twins Charlie and Nixon.</p><p>"Ha, gotta love these morph gems, they work like a charm." Charlie said, pulling a glowing blue gemstone from his left pocket.</p><p>"Yeah, now let's make like hares and move quick, only a matter of time before someone drops in eh?" Nixon said, staring at the statues of King Darius and Queen Kassandra Goodfey.</p><p>Without giving it a second thought, both twins move in to steal both bone statues.</p><hr/><p>At the old warehouse, lots of orcs were being thrown about, as the Mysticons were making quick work of them. Yet, for every orc they subdued, at least two more advanced.</p><p>"By the Hammer of Harmon, they just keep coming!" Em said, blocking the oncoming horde with her shield.</p><p>"I know, isn't this exciting!" Piper said, pixie blasting like no tomorrow.</p><p>"Stay focused girls, we need to work as a team to stop these creeps. Right Arkaya?" Zarya said, with a strong hint of irritation in her tone.</p><p>Arkayna did not answer. Instead, she pushed back two orcs that collided with her staff, and ran to Kymraw's direction.</p><p>"Arkayna!" Zarya called out.</p><p>"Go after her Zarya! Don't worry, Piper and I have got this." Said em, tossing aside two orc with but a swipe of her powerful sword.</p><p>"Crap." Zarya said under her breath. And so off she went, hoping to stop Arkayna from getting herself killed.</p><p>In a more dense part of the warehouse, Arkayna was searching for Kymraw, searching for not so subtle signs of the behemoth.</p><p>"You sure are cowardly for a troll!" Arkayna Shouted. "Come out and show yourself!"</p><p>As if in cue, Kymraw came charging from out of several crates, ramming Arkayna to a wall.</p><p>"Careful what you wish for, Dragon Mage!" Kymraw then proceeded to punch her in the princess's stomach, followed by throwing her across the room and to a wall. Arkayna groaned, struggling to get on her feet. The orcs wore her out pretty good, and Kymraw's overwhelming strength did not help her situation one bit.</p><p>"If Kymraw's client did not want you, Kymraw would crush you!" Kymraw said, standing over the battered and beaten mage.</p><p>"What?" Arkayna said, with a confused look.</p><p>But just before Kymraw could say much else, Zarya attacked her from behind, and drove a bright blue dagger deep in Kymraw's shoulder, causing her to yelp in pain.</p><p>"Get away from her!" Zarya shouted, driving the dagger as deep as she could. Though it was painful, it was far from enough to cripple the tough troll, as she picked up Zarya by the cape and started thrashing her like a rag doll. She then threw Zarya at the wall, hitting her head, knocking her out cold.</p><p>"Zarya!" Arkayna called out. Seeing her sister harmed like that, Arkayna had a horrified look in her eyes. She suddenly had a flashback of the day her parents were turned to bone. Then, her horrified expression turned into an angered expression, as her eyes glowed green with rage.</p><p>Kymraw then picked up Arkayna and pinned her to a wall. "Kymraw may not be instructed to kill you, but perhaps she could still rough you up more eh?" The vile troll chuckled. Suddenly, Arkayna grabbed both of Kymraw's arms, her hands glowing a bright green. Kymraw started to yelp in pain, it felt like her hands were getting crushed. Arkayna then proceeded to slowly bend Kymraw's arms, causing more pain. It was almost as if Arkayna had the strength of a... dragon.</p><p>"I'll kill you, monster!" Arkayna screamed, as she threw Kymraw across the area with little effort. The enraged Princess then trapped Kymraw in green energy, then created a series of energy daggers, pointing directly at Kymraw, who gazed in fear.</p><p>As Arkayna was about to send the daggers to end it, she snapped back to reality, and gazed at the fearful troll. What am I doing? Arkayna then dismissed all her daggers and released Kymraw.</p><p>Suddenly, Kymraw's com went off. She answered quickly. After hearing a few mutters, she dismisses the call. "See you later, Mysticons!" She said, blasting Arkayna with her ax and ran out the back exit, grabbing her bike in the process. </p><p>After sending a signal to her orcs through a beeper, they did they same, much to Piper and Em's confusion.</p><p>"That was... weird." Em said, scratching her head. "We were our numbered, why didn't they just kill us?"</p><p>"Ha! Probably they were too chicken." Piper said, imitating a chicken.</p><p>"I don't know, something about this doesn't feel..." Em trailed off when something came to mind. "Zarya! Arkayna!"</p><p>With no time to lose, both Em and Piper darted to help Arkayna and Zarya. They barged in the room of the battle, only to find Arkayna carrying Zarya over her shoulder, both of whom are a little worse for ware. Zarya started to come to.</p><p>"Oh my goblin! Are you okay?" Asked Piper, huggging her elder sister figure possessively, unintentionally causing her pain.</p><p>"Ow, easy!" Zarya Shouted. "I'm still sore, ya know?"</p><p>"Sorry" Piper said, still a little worried. Zarya then took a deep breath to calm down, the last thing she wanted was Piper crying over her.</p><p>"Hey, I'm fine, Pipes, takes more than a few thrashings to keep me down." Zarya assured, placing a hand on Piper's shoulder. She then turned her attention to Arkayna, wearing a serious expression. "What's your deal, sis?"</p><p>"I..." Arkayna was not sure how to answer. It seemed like even she was unsure of what just happened. Did I seriously try to kill someone just now? A good question indeed. It was nothing to eviscerate undead soilders, but a taking a mortal life was a different story. Luckily, as if saved by the bell, she relieved a text from Malveron. Upon gazing at this text, her eyes widened with despair.</p><p>"What? What is it?" Zarya asked, not wanting to be kept in suspense.</p><p>"Mom and Dad.... they've been taken." Arkayna's tone was of disbelief, as was Zarya's as she widened her eyes. Arkayna's heart might as well have been ripped out, for it sure felt that way.</p><hr/><p>At Creed Slitherwick's hideout, there both the King and Queen, being displayed as if they were mere decor. Creed stares proudly of this success, one big portion of his plan now complete.</p><p>"Now what boss?" Charlie inquired.</p><p>"Now, we wait." Creed responded, giving a malicious chuckle as he continues to stare at the bone statues.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Invitation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Breaking news!" Said Serena Snakecharmer, as a large crowd of concerned citizens surrounded the Royal Palace. "This just in, Queen Goodfey and King Darius have been kidnapped... or statuenapped in this case. As you can hear, the crowd is just going wild over their sudden disappearance."</p><p>"I thought the Royal Guard were supposed to keep intruders out of The Palace!" Shouted a furious Dwarf. "What kind of lazy guard are they hiring anyway?! The Mysticons are out there keeping our city safe, and the guard just lets the King and Queen get captured?!" The crowd only got louder from there.</p><p>Back in the strong hold, where the girls were powered down and getting patched up, everyone watched the TV intently. Arkayna especially had a look on her face which seemed to be a combination of rage and sorrow. Malveron was using a healing spell to heal her bloody wounds, his hands placed on her shoulders when doing so. The warmth of his hands would ordinarily comfort her, yet this time it was not enough, as the news continued further.</p><p>"When asked about the sudden disappearance, King Gawayne had this to say!" Serena said as the footage of Gawayne was shown.</p><p>"I understand the concerns of the citizens. But mark my words we will find the low lives responsible for this..." Gawayne trailed off upon looking at the camera. Apparently, there was just enough glare for him to stare at his reflection. "Oh my goblin, that pimple's still there!" To which the vain king ran out, crying. Not surprisingly, that made the voices even louder.</p><p>"I still can't believe this." Zarya said, in a shocked tone. "The King and Queen... Mom and Dad... stolen, just like that."</p><p>"It doesn't make any sense!" Em exclaimed, "The Royal Guard should have been at every door, no way am intruder could get in."</p><p>"Everyone, hush." Zorlon firmly said, awaiting further development.</p><p>"Information is sketchy at this time, one thing is certain is that these mystery thieves have an axe to grind with the Royal Family. What that is, is anyone's guess. This is Serena Snakecharmer, signing off!"</p><p>"Ssssssstay tuned." Said one of Serena's snake hairs, as the she signed off.</p><p>"Whoever these thieves are, they are good at covering their tracks." Malveron pointed out.</p><p>"I'll say." Agreed Zarya. "Me and Pipes have pulled some big heists back in the day, but this takes the cake."</p><p>"No worries!" Piper enthusiastically said. "Sooner or later, these creeps will slip up, and we'll find them."</p><p>"Yes." Arkayna said coldly, tightening her fist. "We'll find them... and make them wish they were never born."</p><p>That caught Zarya off guard. Previously, such violent acts of revenge was her thing, and as she recalled it was Arkayna and present company who tried to break her out of the habit. And yet, here they were.</p><p>"Excuse me, are you the same Arkayna who once told me that "we don't do revenge"? Or is she not in at the moment?"</p><p>"Oh, I'm sorry, did you forget that my parents were just stolen?" Arkayna retorted, "That our parents were just stolen?"</p><p>"Girls, that's enough." Zorlon said, trying to intervene, though his words appeared to have bounced off both the twins.</p><p>"Hey, I'm not any happier about this than you, Princess. But, we can't just-"</p><p>"You just don't care!" Arkayna shouted, completely flying off the handle.Piper and Em stepped back, feeling this argument could use some wide berth. "You never even loved them as much as I do, which is why you won't do anything to help them now!"</p><p>"Hey! It's not like that okay? Besides, excuse me if I never knew them long enough to ever care for them!" Zarya quickly covered her own mouth after saying that. Arkayna then wore a very shocked expression, which slowly turned into a scowl. "Arkayna, look... I didn't mean it like that."</p><p>"No... I think you did." Arkayna said in an angry tone. She then proceeded to walk out of the Stronghold. Silence flooded the stronghold until they heard the door slam, causing everyone to flinch.</p><p>"You had to open your mouth, didn't you?" Malveron irritably said.</p><p>"Hey, lay off her!" Piper jumped in, quick to defend her friend.</p><p>"Yeah mage boy, lay off!" Zarya repeated, already irritated.</p><p>"Whoa guys, easy." Doug said, getting between everyone</p><p>"Yeah, just calm down." Em added. Both her and Doug tried to stop the argument, but to no avail. It wasn't until Zorlon slammed the bottom of his staff on the floor when everyone fell silent.</p><p>"Hasn't there been enough squabbling for one night?" Zorlon sternly said as he approached his students. "Don't drive each other away, now is a more important time than ever for all of us stand together."</p><p>"But Zorlon," Zarya said, "Arkana's becoming hostile and pulling away more from the team, you heard what she said. What if she ends up doing something she'll regret?"</p><p>Zorlon could not help but ponder that thought, stroking his beard. With that thought, everyone in the room had faces of uncertainty on their faces.</p><hr/><p>As Arkayna stormed her way through the halls, out came Gawayne, feeling ever so self conscious of his face.</p><p>"Hey step sis, is my face okay?" Arkayna did not answer, instead walking past the spoiled king. "Hey! I'm talking to-" His sentence was cut abruptly short upon hearing the door of her room slam, causing him to shriek. For once, Gawayne used his better judgement and started walking away... to change his pants.</p><p>In her room, Arkayna again stared into her dresser mirror. This time, tears of rage were filling her eye. Those tears soon became green flames, and her hands soon ignited as well, burning the desk of her dresser. In the nick of time, a knock on the her door snapped her out of it, the flames immediately vanished. A second knock on her door definitely irritated her as she stormed there.</p><p>"What!?" Arkayna shouted, expecting either Gawayne or Zarya, but it turned out to be the Palace Butler.</p><p>"Um... ahem... a letter for you... Princess Arkayna." Butler hesitantly said, taken aback by this sudden outburst. Quite a feat since he's normally emotionless. Arkayna took a deep breath before taking the note, feeling a bit bad for startling him like that.</p><p>"Thank you, Jerome. Sorry, I snapped, I...I just want my parents back."</p><p>"I understand." Said Jerome, having a genuine look of care in his eyes. "If you need anything, Princess, please let me know."</p><p>As he walked away, Arkayna took a moment to reflect on her recent behavior. That moment would not last, for as soon as she opened the letter, shock filled her face, as she read.</p><p>
  <em>Dear Princess Arkayna Goodfey,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I have your parents here at my HQ, which shall remain discreet if you wish to see them again. No harm will come to them as long as you meet my demands. Meet me at address, 401 Serpent's Ave. in the Undercity, tomorrow around midnight. Only then will we discuss my terms.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sincerely, Creed Slitherwick</em>
</p><p>Arkayna could hardly believe her eyes. Creed Slitherwick? The realm renowned philanthropist? He seemed so friendly in the past news stories and on the papers, never would she have expected anything him to be an evil doer. Then again, the naive Princess never suspected Tazma to betray her either the first day they met.</p><p>A strong part of Arkayna wanted to sick the Royal Guard on him. However, based on what the letter said, she was afraid they would be shattered to dust if she ever did. It certainly did not help that she was still at odds with her fellow teammates, her sister Zarya especially. However, she thought she had one ace up her sleeve.</p><p>"Sorry Creed," Arkayna started, with a tense look, "Princess Arkayna can't make it. But don't worry... the Dragonmage is coming for you." And with that, she transformed, ready to confront the nefarious serpent and give him what for.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. A Venomous Deal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day had already come, and Arkayna could not get out of the palace fast enough. She waited for everyone to fall asleep, every last person in the palace. She paced the floor ever so impatiently, checking her watch every moment. Her stomach was full of butterflies, for her parents were in the hands of a madman, and he'll only give them back if she met his terms. One of them, not bringing anyone but herself.</p><p>Arkayna checked her watch one last time. Midnight, surely everyone was asleep. Okay Arkayna, it's now or never. She slowly opened her door. No guards in the halls so far. The night shift must have already made their first rounds, and guarding the front entrance. Though, it was not the guards she was worried about. It was her fellow Mysticons she was concerned about, especially Zarya. Without a second thought, Arkayna formed into the fabled Mysticon Dragonmage.</p><p>As stealthily as she could, Arkayna moved her way to the balcony. A few patrol guards here and there, but she slipped by every one of them. When she finally made it to the balcony, she took in the view for a moment, standing firm, and her long, lush hair blowing in the breeze of wind. She thought about calling Izzy over for a moment, but the last thing she wanted was to cause the griffins to screech in the air, potential waking everyone. With that, she simply jumped into the air, using her bracer to sling across town with bright green strings.</p><p>Little did Arkayna know, not all the Mysticons were asleep. In fact, there stood Zarya in the shadows, already in her Mysticon form. She anticipated Arkayna would do this. Well, she was right. <em>Where are you goin', Sis?</em> Not wanting to blow her cover, Zarya stayed to the shadows, following her sister across town. Luckily, stealth happened to be the Zarya's forte.</p><p>Arkayna eventually made her way to the Undercity, Zarya quietly following suit. She was immediately uneasy when she saw exactly where she went. Serpents Ave, one of the most dangerous streets in the Undercity. Up until this point, even Zarya would never set foot here.</p><p>Immediately, Arkayna started checking all addresses she could find, no stone unturned. "Where is that parent stealing slime ball?" Arkayna said under her breath, gritting her teeth. Zarya, still in the shadows, was scratching her head in confusion, she could have sworn that she heard Arkayna say "parent".</p><p>Meanwhile, Arkayna was growling in frustration, feeling she was on a wild goose chase. Then, finally, she found it. 401 Serpents Ave. At first glance, it seemed rather homely. How could such a classy sophisticate like Creed possibly thrive here? Only one way to know for certain. She managed to find a vent shaft, and went inside. Zarya, on the other hand, watched in shock and horror. She knows this address all too well.</p><p>"Damn" Zarya whispered to herself. She then pulled out her com on her wrist. "Yo Em, get Pipes and meet me in the Undercity, ASAP"</p><p>"Why? Do you know what time it is?" Em said with a yawn.</p><p>"Let's just say, it's way time for an intervention."</p><hr/><p>Sure enough, Creed Slitherwick was there, counting his profits in gold, no doubt pillaged from those in his debt, in the comfort of his office, wearing a wicked smile on his snake-like face. Suddenly, he noticed his fireplace went out, most peculiar indeed. This didn't frighten him however, point in fact he was actually expecting company tonight. Creed chuckled with delight.</p><p>"That's very cute, not many can sneak into my office like that." Creed said, turning his head slowly to Arkayna, who was standing just behind him, with a look of seriousness on her face.</p><p>"Cut the chatter." Arkayna said, with a hint of anger in her voice. "I know you have the King and Queen. On behalf of the Royal Family, I'm here to retrieve them."</p><p>Creed Chuckled. "Right to the point are we? I deeply respect that. Won't you have a seat, Miss Dragon Mage?"</p><p>"Just Dragon Mage, and no, just hand over the King and Queen, and no one gets hurt."</p><p>"Very well, Dragon Mage. Or do you mind if I call by your other name...Princess Arkayna?"</p><p>This shocked Arkayna very much, How could he possibly have found out? "Wh - what?! How did you know?"</p><p>"Do I look like a fool child?" Creed replied, "You're the exact same height, same hair style, same eyes, and same exact voice. Now one might think this is coincidence, but I never miss a trick. Not to mention you're here when I mentioned my proposal to the princess. Oh, and one interesting clue gave it away." He then projected two photos from his bangle phone, one with Arkayna and company in their civilian attire, the other in their Mysticon forms.</p><p>Arkayna gasped loudly, realizing she had fallen into a trap."You tricked me!" She said, furiously.</p><p>"Ha! Figured that one out on your own didn't you?" Creed mocked. "Now, as promised..." He then clapped for Charlie and Nixon to bring in her bone statue parents. She looked on in disgust at this despicable act. "I know what you're thinking, how did I manage to abduct them?" Creed then pulled out two shape shifter stones, using one of them to shape shift into Arkayna briefly. "Magic, mighty handy wouldn't you agree princess?" Creed mocked in Arkayna's voice, changing back soon after, then tossing them to Charlie and Nixon, who used them to morph into two palace gaurds.</p><p>Arkayna's eyes began to glow green with fury, pointing her staff at Creed with hostile intent. "You heartless bastard! I have a good mind to incinerate you until not even your ashes are left!"</p><p>"Oh my, a little grim are we?" Creed said, still smug as ever, "Go ahead then, show me what you've got." He sat there, daring her to.</p><p>Arkayna lit up her staff, point blank range. There was no way Creed would survive. And yet... She recalled what she almost did to Kymraw back at the warehouse. She almost killed her. Her mother never raised a murderer. With that she dropped her staff, her eyes stopped glowing, and she sank to the ground, sobbing her eyes out. Creed couldn't help but chuckle, moving toward Arkayna while doing so.</p><p>"Just as I thought, even with all that power you're still pathetic and weak!" The nefarious crimlord then stroked the mewling princess's hair. "Aw, don't feel bad dear, I' still willing to help."</p><p>"Y-You will?" Arkayna said, wiping away the tears in her eyes.</p><p>"Certainly." Creed said, retaining his wicked smile. "Anything for the Royal Family. That is, if you'll do me several favors. Favor one, bring me the Dragon Disk. After all, why settle for becoming king, when I could have the power of a god?"</p><p>Arkayna seemed confused. Without the power of the Codex, the Disk was practically useless. However, Creed did not seem to know that. This could work to her advantage. The second favor, however, was far more gut wrenching.</p><p>"And favor two... bring me the lifeless body of your sister, Zarya Moonwolf."</p><p>"What?!" That turned Arkayna's gut. She guessed that Creed was twisted, but never this twisted. "You seriously expect me to kill my own sister?! Fat chance!"</p><p>Creed then wore a cynical frown. "Very well, perhaps I can make the decision easier for you." He then pulled a timer from under his desk, setting it down and started the countdown. "I'll give you twenty four hours to come to a decision. Once Time is up, and if you're not back here to give me your final answer..." Creed then snapped his fingers, to which Charlie and Nixon pulled out sludge hammers, aiming them at the King and Queen. "Well, lets just say it will be a pain to clean up all the dust."</p><p>Arkayna then stared at her parents, horrified by the thought of them being pounded to dust. Was she about to make a deal with a devil? Never in her life had she felt so trapped. Meanwhile, Creed smiled. If she decided yes, then Zarya would be out of his life, he would get the Disk, and the Mysticons would be down a warrior. If she decided no, then the King and Queen would be broken to pieces. Whatever the outcome, he knew he would win.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Intervention</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Choices... why do they have to be so hard? Arkayna could not help but ask herself that question as soon as she exited Creed's hideout. It would be one thing to trade the old Dragon Disk for her parents, said Disk was merely a relic without the full power of the almighty Codex, a training tool to solve riddles at best. However, it was another thing to trade Zarya's life for them.</p><p>Arkayna and Zarya hadn't always gotten along, especially when they first met. Yet, over the course of their adventures, they had really hit it off as sworn sisters, even before they found out they were related by blood. Of course Arkayna wouldn't kill her. And yet, if she didn't, her still bone statues that were her parents would be nothing but dust.</p><p><em>What do I do?</em> Arkayna thought to herself solemnly. <em>What can I do?</em> This was definitely a conundrum like no other she's ever been in. At this point, there was one thing she could do, and that was contacting the others. Considering her recent behavior, however, she wasn't sure she could do it.</p><p>Suddenly, Arkayna a faint whoosh in the air. That whoosh was layered accompanied by footsteps, running across the rooftops... coming straight for her. She heard at least three different directions in which these sounds were coming from.</p><p>"Ugh, I don't need this right now!" Arkayna hissed, she was in no mood to deal with stalkers. Deciding to fire first and ask questions later, she fired some fireballs at the sounds the stalkers, where ever she heard the sounds. Seeing a shadow, the fierce princess launched in the air and dove down, pinning one the stalkers face down on the ground.</p><p>"Ow!" Cried out a familiar voice. Upon further inspection, Arkayna realized it was Em she was pinning, and hurting too. </p><p>"I'm friendly, I swear!" Em said. Almost immediately, Arkayna released the poor dwarf.</p><p>"What are you doing out here?" Arkayna asked, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>"A better question is, what are <em>you</em> doing here?" Said another familiar voice. Out of the shadows came Zarya, narrowing her eyes at Arkayna. From above, somersaulted the ever energized Piper. When she landed though, she wasn't her usual happy self. In fact, she seemed rather mad.</p><p>"That's none of your business!" Shouted Arkayna, attempting to walk away, to which an irritated Zarya got in front of her. The other two girls followed suit, surrounding Arkayna.</p><p>"When my sister goes to the hideout of the most dangerous crime lord in the Undercity, it is my business."</p><p>"You... you spied on me? What gives you the ri-"</p><p>"What do you think you're doing?!" Piper finally snapped, catching Arkayna off guard. "You're supposed to be our leader! You're supposed to take care of us! And yet you're walking off to... to... that murderer!" Arkayna was genuinely shocked. She had never seen Piper like this angry before. Sure, the elf had her tantrums, but everything she said felt so personal. In fact, Arkayna could see a few tears come out of Piper's eyes.</p><p>"Piper? What has he done to you?" Arkayna asked cautiously. Piper's tears then grew stronger, like a fast moving river.</p><p>"He... killed my parents." Piper revealed. The young elf then tightly hugged Zarya, sobbing on her shoulder. Zarya in turn held Piper closely, all while narrowing her eyes at Arkayna.</p><p>"Piper... I had no idea..." Arkayna said with regret.</p><p>"Of course you didn't." Zarya bluntly said. "Cuz you never bothered to ask before you went out. Come to think of it, Piper's right. You haven't been much of a leader lately. Past three weeks, you've been avoiding us, getting too violent in training sessions, and don't even get me started on our fight with Kymraw. You recklessly charged in without help, and almost got killed! And now you're sneaking out and meeting crimelords behind our backs?"</p><p>"I hate to agree with Zarya here but, she's right, Arkayna." Em said. Though a hint of irritation was present, Em had a softer tone. "All we want to do help, but we can't do that if you keep closing us off." Em then moved closer to Arkayna, then held her hands. "Please, let us help. Tell us everything."</p><p>Arkayna took a deep breath. She looked back and forth between Em, her best friend in all the realm, and Zarya, her sister by blood and bond, still holding the distraught Piper, the sight of which made Arkayna feel guilty about the whole thing.</p><p>"You're right." Arkayna said, with saddness and remorse in her eyes. "Everyone gather up. I'll tell you everything."</p><hr/><p>All the info Arkayna shared with Piper, Zarya, and Em was slow to sink in. Perhaps none more shocked than Em, she really thought that Creed was a humble philanthropist. He certainly acted the part. Zarya knew the filthy snake was malicious, but this was unforgivable. Yet another reason for the rebel teen to hate his guts. Piper, however, seemed to have a new reason to be mad at Arkayna.</p><p>"So... are you gonna do it?" Piper said, somewhat gritting her teeth. "Are you gonna kill Zarya and give her to Creed?" She pointed her finger at Arkayna at that last sentence.</p><p>"Of course not!" Arkayna retorted. "I don't trade lives, much less friends or family. That's what makes this so hard." Arkayna then looked down in shame. Piper recoiled a little after that. Though her anger for Arkayna was still unresolved, she at least understood the situation better.</p><p>"We'll think of something." Em said, holding Arkayna close. "Like Zorlon told us, where there's a will, there's a way. We just need to find the will to find the way."</p><p>"And I think I just found a way." Zarya suddenly said with a smirk. All the other girls looked at her in confusion.</p><p>"Well, share with the class!" Piper said, the anticipation killing her.</p><p>"Creed wants me dead and the disk right? Then that's exactly what he's gonna get. Listen up girls, I've got a plan."</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. From Not So Humble Beginnings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Creed sat proudly at his desk. Even though he knew that Princess Arkayna still had time to spare, he knew he had the upper advantage. Surley, there was no way he could lose in this situation.</p><p>"Boys," Creed said to Charlie and Nixon. "Go guard the entrance, as soon as our lovely princess arrives, bring her to me."</p><p>"You got it boss!" Both twins said in unison. As they left, one of Creed's butlers comes in. He seemed like black mamba anthro, and unlike his master he did not have legs, so he slithered like a normal snake would. He still had arms, wish he used to hold a platter with a bottle of red wine and a glass. He then poured said wine in said glass, which he offered to his master, who was happy to accept it.</p><p>"Mmm, taste the heavens" Creed said, taking a sip. He then sat his drink down to count his coins.</p><p>"Excuse me, sir." Said the Butler, in a deep yet elegant voice. "Might I inquire something?</p><p>"By all means Seragus, inquire."</p><p>"It occurs to me that you are very good at luring poor unsuspecting people into your deals, case in point the Princess. Yet, I know you did not get that way over night."</p><p>"Your point?" Creed replied in a cold tone.</p><p>"W-well sir..." Seragus's tone suddenly got weaker and more nervous. Perhaps he hit a nerve."What I meant was, you never did tell us of your origins. If it's alright, what got into this... line of work, so to speak?" There was a good long silence after that. Seragus was definitely of Creed's most loyal servants, he would never dream of insulting his master in such a way. He could only hope that he was not overstepping his boundaries by asking this. To Seragus's relief...</p><p>"What is the best way to put it?" Creed replied, much more relaxed. "I suppose it started out as a mission to live up to a certain someone's expectations. However, over time it became much more than that. Listen well."</p><hr/><p>
  <em>It all started around thirty years ago, in a small town known as Alar. It was a rather ghetto neighborhood, as I recall. Back then I was under the name "Hectillius Fang". As a young lad, I tried my best to fit in with their society, but I was often ostracized and avoided due to being a venomous species. Or at least, I thought that was the reason at first.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>As I was growing up and spent more time with my father, Octeros Fang, I began to notice a recurring theme. He was very much... respected. For instance, when we went for sustenance, we always ate for free. In addition, when he said so much as a small word, everyone stopped and listened. Everywhere we went, we always got special attention.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What's more, there was always a look of fear in everyone's eyes. For the longest time, I assumed it was because he and I were venomous. And certainly, that was part of it, for my venom is enough to drop a diamondback cave crawler within in a few hours. Once I came of age, however, he told me an eye opening truth... Octeros Fang was a nefarious mob boss. His very presence was frightful. When you stared into his eyes, you might as well have been staring into up your own coffin.</em>
</p><hr/><p>"That was when I decided to take part in his criminal activities, and perhaps even fill his seat as mob boss in his little organization." Creed then took another sip of his wine, surprisingly comfortable talking about his past.</p><p>"And I'm assuming he was never impressed with your efforts? If that's alright to ask." Seragus cautiously inquired.</p><p>"Oh no, he was very impressed. Perhaps, a little too impressed." Creed said with a mischievous smile, as if he was proud of that fact. "I became a prodigy at the field of crime..."</p><hr/><p>
  <em>So much so that the my father was actually afraid that I would overthrow him. So he set me up with a simple bank robbery. Once the alarm set off, I tried to run, only to be caught by some sort of mystic bubble.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Father, please help me!" It was no use.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Sorry, dear boy, but the realm already has an infamous crime lord, and that's me." Octeros's tone was as deep and cold as can be, he smiled wickedly as he left me to my fate.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Local authorities locked me up for one full year. When I refused to rat my good for nothing father, they subjected me to five hours of torturous, nonstop twinkly mare commercials! Most might think this silly, but trust me, hours on end of those damn ponies was enough to drive any mortal creature insane.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Over the years, my outlook on life grew much more indifferent. I felt as if my father taught me something after that fateful day. Then, realization hit me like a ton of bricks... in order to get your way, you have to cold and ruthless.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>After serving my debt to society, I went back to my life of crime, gathering all sorts of help along the way. When word got out that I was free, my father finally visited me, after five years. He wanted to congratulate on my efforts. To celebrate, we shared a toast. Little did the old snake know, I poisoned his drink with cane toad poison, which I purchased from witches.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>With Octeros's last breath, "You filthy... heathen! Mark my words...you... will..."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He never got to finish. Death came almost immediately. I was quite satisfied. Now, I controlled all his men, as well as all of Alar's criminal underground. Yet, would I settle? Of course not.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>After the event, I decided to legally change my name into Creed Slitherwick, the name you know today. That's when I decided to move to Drake City, where I became a Realm renowned philanthropist, as the perfect cover. Yet, I soon found the city flourished under monarchy. Toiling to elevate myself to the Royal Family's power and wealth was quite excruciating.</em>
</p><hr/><p>Creed's smile grew ever wider as he finished his tale. "And now, my patience had finally paid off. In under twenty four hours, I'll finally rank so high! I will be a god with that disk. That is, assuming the princess complies."</p><p>"I must say, sir." Seragus said. "I knew you were callous, but poisoning your own father...I never could have imagine. Though, I suppose in hindsight it makes sense."</p><p>"That's just the wonderful game of business, my friend." Creed said, holding a few cards he pulled from his desk. "To win against any competition, family or otherwise, you must hold all the winning cards." Creed then revealed the cards in the order of a royal straight flush.</p><p>"Hey, boss!" Charlie called out, catching Creed's attention. "Guess who arrived." As he and his twin, Nixon, walked in, Arkayna walked in as well, holding not only the Dragon Disk in her hands, but over her shoulder, she carried the lifeless body of Zarya, her own sister.</p><p>"The deed, is done." Arkayna said, her tone cold and indifferent.</p><p>Creed was pleased with this success. Finally, he got everything he wanted, and more... or so he thought.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Confrontation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Arkayna stood firm, her expression cold as ice. In her left hand, she held the legendary Dragon Disk. On her right shoulder, she held the lifeless body of her own sister, both by blood and bond, Zarya.</p><p>"Ha, excellent!" Creed said, all too happy with the results. "To be quite honest, I was starting to doubt if you would go through with your end of the bargain. I must say, I've never been so happy to be wrong."</p><p>"Just shut up and give me my parents." Arkayna replied with indifference.</p><p>"Ah yes, of course." Creed snapped his fingers, signaling Charlie and Nixon to bring out the bone statues of the King and Queen. Arkayna was moving toward them, until... "Come now, the disk and lifeless husk first."</p><p>"Fine." With that, Arkayna tossed Zarya's body near Creed's desk, and tossed the disk to him.</p><p>"Yes, finally. The power of the disk, is all..." Creed's gleeful expression suddenly turned to shock as the "disk" seem to have disappeared. "What... WHAT?!"</p><p>Arkayna's expression then turned from cold, to mischievous. "If you don't mind, we have something to say."</p><p>"W-w-we?" Creed said, his voice cracking a bit. From that moment, the seemingly lifeless body of Zarya jumped right from the floor and somersaulted next to Arkayna.</p><p>"Syke!" Zarya said, smiling triumphantly and pointing her magic arrows at the nefarious serpent. Before Creed knew it, Piper and Em bursted from the vent shaft, knocking out Charlie and Nixon as quickly as they did so.</p><p>"You're surrounded Creed, no way out!" Shouted Em.</p><p>"Yeah, you've got two options!" Piper said, gritting her teeth at Creed.</p><p>"Either surrender our parents..." Arkayna started</p><p>"Or you're in for a world of hurt." Zarya finished.</p><p>Creed then wore a wrathful look in his eyes, hissing with rage. "Insolent harlottes!" He hissed. "No one double crosses Creed Slitherwick! No one!" Without moment's hesitation, he used his tail to hit a button underneath his desk, which sounded an alarm. Almost immediately, henchmen were coming out of the woodwork, surrounding the girls. The barrage of henchmen were a mix of constrictors and venomous individuals. Creed was so certain the girls had met their match... he was wrong.</p><p>Very quickly, the girls were making short work of all the henchmen. Arkayna and Zarya stood back to back, taking down as many as they could. Piper took down a fair bit as well with her various pixie blasts and hoops. One cobra anthro almost sank his fangs into her, only to be intercepted by Em's shield, which broke the creature's fangs. "Guess you bit off more than you could chew, huh?" Em remarked, to which Piper laughed.</p><p>Creed started to get very anxious, his tail moving erratically. If snakes could sweat, he would have done so that very moment. His men were falling like flies... and he knew he'd be next. Out of desperation, he wrapped his tail around the two bone statues, and made a run for it. Zarya caught wind of this act, shortly after punching the teeth out of a boa henchmen.</p><p>"Dammit! He's getting away!" Zarya Shouted. "So much for the plan."</p><p>"Arkayna, Zarya!" Em called out. "You two go after Creed!"</p><p>"We got this!" Piper added. As both the elf and dwarf held off the oncoming horde, Zarya and Arkayna then looked at each other, shook their heads yes, then pursued Creed.</p><hr/><p>Creed ran as fast as he could, yet he could still hear the footsteps of the twins behind him, running fast. Seeing the door leading to the library, he quickly hid. Upon reaching his temporary safe haven, he began to hyperventilate, followed by pacing the floor frantically.</p><p>"Th-th-this is it!" Creed said to himself, paranoid. "They'll find me, and when they do..." he shuddered to think. Less than four months ago, he would never have felt threatened by Zarya, seeing her as nothing more than a lowly street rat and a nuisance. Meanwhile, he always viewed Arkayna as a dainty princess. Yet, at this moment, since discovering of their Mysticon abilities, he had new reasons to panic. Worst of all, he majorly pissed them off. <em>What will I do?!</em> After all these years of using fear to his advantage, Creed finally knew what it was like to be afraid himself. And sure enough, he would spend a lifetime in prison for his treason.<em> I need to get out of this! I need...</em></p><p>Creed trailed off for a moment. It was as if inspiration struck. He noticed one of his canes in the corner. This wasn't like the other two canes. Where the other two had gold snake heads, this one had a red snake head, an open maw, and what appeared to be a button on its head. He then wore his wicked smile.</p><p>"I've been saving this for a rainy day." The callous crime lord said under his breath.</p><p>Outside, Zarya and Arkayna were knocking down every door they saw, looking for Creed.</p><p>"Where are you, ya cowardly snake?!" Zarya called out</p><p>"Keep looking." Arkayna said, using a low voice. "He can't hide forever."</p><p>"You're right. I can't." Before both twins knew it, there was Creed, formally standing there, with his red headed cane. "Nor do I have any intention to."</p><p>From there, a silent standoff took place. Both Zarya and Arkayna pointed their weapons at Creed, not taking their eyes off him even for a second.</p><p>"Gotcha now, Scale Face!" Zarya said</p><p>"Why yes, dear. It seems you do." Creed replied, smug as ever. "Would one of you care to make the first move?"</p><p>It suddenly occurred to Zarya that something was off. After all, just a few moments ago, he had been running from them like a rabbit from a fox. Where did this sudden confidence come from? Zarya had a bad feeling about this, and her instincts were rarely wrong</p><p>"Don't mind if I do." Arkayna said, ready to give Creed the trouncing of a lifetime for blackmailing her. "Stay put sis, this slimeball's mine!" With that, Arkayna lunged at him, her dragon staff glowing. Perfect. Creed thought. He raised his cane in the air, pointing it at Arkayna</p><p>"Arkayna, look out!" Zarya shouted, jumping right in front of Arkayna. As Creed pressed the button on the snake head, a blood red dart shot out from the heads mouth and landed hard on Zarya's arm, causing her to scream in pain.</p><p>"Zarya!" Arkayna cried out, quick to tend to his sister, removing the dart.</p><p>Creed smiled intently. "Not necessarily my intended target, but this should be entertaining all the same."</p><p>"Entertaining?! What are you talking abo-"</p><p>Arkayna then felt a sudden slice on her right arm, to which she yelped in pain. She looked briefly at her arm and saw she was bleeding. She then turned to look at Zarya, who was holding her bright blue dagger, which had fresh blood on it. "Zarya, what gives?" When Zarya turned to look at Arkayna, she had piercing red eyes, and gritted her teeth, pulling, another dagger appearing in her hand. Arkayna looked horrified.</p><p>"Vexaway canisters. A wonderful product wouldn't you say?" Creed said. "I managed to acquire them, and fill them with my own dark rage. Took my smartest men a while to convert it to liquid form, but they did it. Good news is, this strain is not contagious. Bad news is..." as Creed trailed off, Zarya charged at Arkayna, giving a war like cry, ready to stab Arkayna, who blocked the attack just in the nick, just as Creed finished his sentence. "Aggression is amplified tenfold."</p><p>Arkayna looked directly into Zarya's eyes, with tears no less. "Zarya... please..." before she knew it, Zarya kicked her back through a wall, leading her to the library. Arkayna managed to pick herself up, hurt badly. She looked on at Zarya approaching her, growling every step of the way.</p><p>"Ha! This is going to be fun." Creed said, his smile full of glee.</p><p>From there, Arkayna knew what she had to do... she had to fight her own sister.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Duel of The Twin Stars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Piper and Em have just about finished clearing the bombardment of Creed's henchmen. Em was panting and sweating like no tomorrow, while Piper was not even close to being tired. If anything, she seemed amped up.</p><p>"Wow! What a rush, huh Em? C'mon, let's find more!" Piper said ever so enthusiastically.</p><p>"Hold... on... a sec... Pipes." Em replied, trying to catch her breath. "We need... to catch up... with Arkayna and Zarya." Suddenly, Piper felt a little twitch of unease in that remark.</p><p>"Yeah... I guess we do." Piper said, scratching her wrist.</p><p>"You alright Piper?" Em asked.</p><p>"It's just... If we find Arkayna and Zarya, chances are we'll find Creed too. And... I'm not sure I'm ready to face him head on." Piper began forming tears in her eyes.</p><p>"Piper, you're a Mysticon. You can mop up the floor with him!"</p><p>"But, he killed my parents! I've been running from my past for so long... I'm not sure I'm ready to face it. What if I freeze? He envenomated them... and I was helpless to do anything."</p><p>That was when the young Dwarf began to realize the gravity of the situation. Ordinarily, the kind hearted Em would cheer up the normally jovial Elf, telling her exactly what she wanted to hear. Yet, at that moment, she didn't know what to say.</p><p>"I'm sorry, Piper. I can't pretend that I know what that's like." Em placed both her hands on Piper's shoulders, meeting her eyes. "So I can't pretend to know the answer. But it's like Zorlon always tells us. We can either let our past haunt us, or we can face our past and learn from it. Right now, you need to face your past, the lives of the King and Queen, now more than ever, depends on that."</p><p>Piper was still uneasy about this situation, but she knew Em, was right. This was not the time to run and hide like the scared child she was before, time to be a hero and help her new family.</p><p>"You're right Em. Now let's catch up with Arkayna and Zarya. They couldn't have gone far."</p><p>"Alrighty, lets go!"</p><p>Just like that, both Mysticons took off in the halls to find their sworn sisters. Little did they know, both the teammates in question were taking "sibling rivalry" to new heights.</p><hr/><p>Tension filled the library as Arkayna and Zarya collided with their weapons. The rage infected Zarya let out blood curdling screams as she tried to rip her own sister to shreds. Arkayna, on the other hand, fought much more defensively, not wishing to hurt Zarya in the slightest, trying in vain to get through. Creed was enjoying this very much. He knew that, one way or another, one of them would not survive.</p><p>"Zarya, listen!" Arkayna said, keeping both of Zarya's knives at bay, "You're better than this, you have to fight it!" It was no use, for Zarya pushed her back, and continued her aggressive assault.</p><p>"You're wasting your time, Dear." Creed said smugly. "She's already too blinded by rage to listen to reason. In other words, it's kill or be killed."</p><p>Zarya then launched in the air as she summoned her bow and fired a bombardment of arrows. Arkayna dodged as many as she could, with two actually hitting her.</p><p>Arkayna still couldn't get over the situation. For as long as they knew each other, Arkayna and Zarya fought side by side. Whenever an evil doer came after one of them, the other would always come to their rescue. Arkayna never expected to one day fight her own sister to the death. And yet, here they were, doing just that.</p><p>Creed took a quick look at his pocket watch as the fight continued. "Well, ladies, as much as I'd love to stay, I have pressing business to tend to. Good bye." He tipped hit top hat as he casually left the library.</p><p>"No!" Arkayna said, attempting to give chase, only to be cut off by Zarya, beginning round two. "Zarya, please! Don't make me do this!" Zarya swung her bow at Arkayna, which the older twin blocked. "This isn't you! This is not who you are!"</p><p>"Shut up!" Zarya roared, as she kept on swinging, her red eyes glowing brighter. "You have no idea who I am! You had it all, wealth, food, shelter, and parents who loved you. Meanwhile, what did I have?! Nothing! I was always forced to scavenge and steal for my next bite!"</p><p>Arkayna back flipped away from the scrap, putting a fair amount of distance between her and Zarya. "What about Piper?" She asked softly. "Was she nothing?"</p><p>Zarya stopped in her tracks after that. For a moment, she seemed remorseful. So much so, it almost seemed like she would snap out of it. She didn't. "Leave... Piper...OUT OF THIS!" Just like that, both her and Arkayna were back in square one.</p><hr/><p>Piper and Em ran frantically through the halls. They might as well have been running through a minotaur's maze, so many turns.</p><p>"Ugh, this is ridiculous!" Piper impatiently said. "I'm pretty sure we passed by this vase twice!"</p><p>"We got keep going." Em said. "Maybe if we split up we could... Ugh, what am I thinking!" She then reached into her pouch and pulled out one of her orbs. She pressed a button and it started floating. "This tracker orb should help us find them." Sure enough, as soon as it picked up Zarya and Arkayna's signature, it made a beeline for them. "Quick, follow it!"</p><p>As quickly as they could, Piper and Em followed the orb through the halls. After a good while of running, they finally manage to find Arkayna and Zarya. Unfortunately, they came at a rather bad time, for both twins were still battling to the death, much to the Em and Piper's shock.</p><p>"Arkayna, Zarya! What's going on?!" Called out Em, catching Arkayna off guard, resulting in Zarya throwing her across the room.</p><p>"Girls, stay back!" Warned Arkayna. "Zarya's been infected by rage magic!" Upon further inspection of Zarya, they could see her bright red eyes.</p><p>"Z-Z-Zarya?" Piper said, sheepishly. Zarya herself didn't seem to notice the two spectators, and continued her attack.</p><p>Upon even further inspection, Em noticed something that could help them. Zarya began panting, and quite heavily no less. In addition, her body was starting to tremble a little bit. It appeared that Zarya had been fighting so aggressively, that she exhausted some of her energy. The bad news, Arkayna was exhausted too.</p><p>"Piper, listen up." Em whispered "At this rate, Arkayna won't last much longer. I memorized the spell we need to cure Zarya. Think you can hold her long enough for me to cast it?"</p><p>"You bet!" Piper said. With that, Piper started to bounce off the wall and leaped on top of Zarya's back, pinning the bigger girl's arms to her sides. "I've got her, Em, do it now!"</p><p>Em then held her sword up high, just like the noble knight she was. "Spell of rage, spell of hate, your angry powers, I do negate!"</p><p>As Em's pink sword glew a bright blue, she pointed it at Zarya and casted her reverse spell, shooting a concentrated bright beam at her. As the spell took affect, Zarya growls started turning into groans, her eyes no longer glowing red, and she struggled less. Piper then released Zarya, and gave a big, loving hug to her elder sister figure.</p><p>"You okay, Z?" Em asked cautiously.</p><p>"Yeah... I think so." Zarya said, wistfully.</p><p>She patted Piper on her shoulder, to which the young Elf released her. Zarya then walked over to a battle ravaged Arkayna, who was panting pretty hard after the long struggle. Zarya then extended her hand to her sister. Arkayna took a moment to inspect Zarya's eyes, making sure it was really her. After seeing no red eyes, she took Zarya's hand and was helped up.</p><p>"I'm so, so sorry Arkayna." Zarya said, her tone full of regret. "I could still see what was going on but I couldn't do a thing about it. I couldn't stop myself."</p><p>Arkayna didn't know how to accept this at first. She knew that Zarya was under the influence of the rage serum, though she had a feeling it was the younger twin still had a small smidgeon of resentment toward her. Not to mention, she knew that what Zarya said while under the influence was true.</p><p>"We'll talk about this later, Sis." Arkayna said. "Right now, we need to save our parents." She then had a mischievous smile on her face. "And give Creed a little eye for an eye. Sound good?"</p><p>That at least put a smile on Zarya's face. "An eye for an eye sounds good to me. Creed has always been on the top of my list!" She said, pounding her fist in her palm.</p><p>"Right then. Em, think you can use one of your orbs to track our parents?"</p><p>"Way ahead of ya. I threw a tracker on the Queen during our scuffle with Creed's henchmen, just before he took them away." Em already pulled out a scanner to try to pick up a trace of their parents. They were in luck, she picked up the or location. "Follow me, this way!"</p><p>The girls ran as fast as they could, they ran to the location that Em picked up. After a few twists and turns, the arrived at the location. Arkayna took a deep breath before taking point, bracing herself for whatever came their way.</p><p>As the girls entered, they suddenly felt a shiver of unease down their spine. The room seemed very big, dark, and wide open. The more they explored, the more uneasy they felt.</p><p>"What would Creed want with a large room like this?" Arkayna asked.</p><p>"I'll say, you could fit a dragon in here." Em concurred.</p><p>All curiosity, however, exited Zarya's eyes, which turned wide. The others caught wind of this, and turned the direction she stared at. In that moment, Arkayna's whole</p><p>world shook. Her eyes were filled with horror. "No." Was all she could say at that very moment.</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. The Beast</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Despair... anguish... sorrow... these very words echoed in the room as Arkayna looked on, all hope leaving her eyes. All she could do was stare at the horrific sight before her. There her parents were, only not in one piece. They were five, maybe six pieces. The girls were too late... the deed had been done.</p><p>With her mouth agape, her saddened eyes seemingly staring into space, Arkayna slowly made her way to the center of the room. Her knees seemingly collapsed upon reaching the pieces. She then picked up the severed head of her petrified mother, with that same expression the moment she got turned to bone.</p><p>"Mom..." Arkayna whimpered. As if on cue, a waterfall of tears flowed down her face. "Mooooooooooommmm!" She yelled, facing the ceiling. From there, the distraught princess wailed uncontrollably, pressing her forehead against her mother's.</p><p>Piper had tears of her own shedding, the event hitting very close to home. Yet another pair of innocent parents lost to that monster. She held onto Em, who also had tears to shed. Ever since working at the palace, the Queen had been good to the young Dwarf, almost treating her like a second daughter, to say nothing that she would never have met Arkayna if the Queen didn't offer her to work at the Royal Palace, not much more than a year ago.</p><p>And then there was Zarya. She still wore that shocked expression, hardly moving a muscle. Flashbacks began to rear their ugly head of that terrible raid on her village, leading to the murder of her adoptive parents. At that moment, her birth mother seemed to have shared a similar fate, before Zarya even had a chance to know her nonetheless. It was like losing her adoptive parents all over again. The young rebel then tightened her fists with rage.</p><p>"Why?!" Zarya snarled, her eyes narrowed and teeth bared. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" Suddenly, a lurking shadow was moving about.</p><p>"Is it not obvious?" Creed's voice could be heard, catching the girls off guard. "Fear, wealth, power. In truth, is that not what the ability to rule with divine right is really about?" There Creed stood, just outside the room as he continued. "That was my endgame, all these years of toiling under the radar of the Royal Family, so that one day, I alone would become king. Now that the King and Queen are out of the way, it's now a matter of tying up the loose ends."</p><p>Just like that, Zarya went straight for Creed, only for a gate to drop right in front of her, just before she could even lay a hand on the vile serpent. "Get in here and fight, you two faced coward!" She roared.</p><p>"Ha! As much as I'd love to teach you a lesson, Zarya," Creed then pulled out what appeared to be a remote control. "It's feeding time for my little pet."</p><p>Without further adieu, he pressed the button and a massive gate, just behind the girls, began to slowly open. The girls assumed their battle positions. All, except the still grieving Arkayna, seemingly oblivious to the world around her.</p><p>Once the gate fully opened, a loud roar could be heard, the breath which followed smelled like rotting corpses. Then, right out of the shadows, a fifty foot long basilisk slithered out, hissing and snarling.</p><p>"Y-yeah, that's not a little pet." Em sqeaked</p><p>"Dinner time, Dorog" Creed said. "Bon appetit!"</p><p>Assuming a striking position, the basilisk, apparently named Dorog, struck down with all fury. Piper and Zarya quickly jumped out of harm's way. Arkayna, however, still did not budge. </p><p>"Oh my goblin!" Em yelled. She had to literally tackle Arkayna out of the way just so she wouldn't get eaten. Miraculously, the hungry basilisk missed the remains of the King and Queen.</p><p>Before the beast could strike again, Zarya shot a rope around its' jaws. She then ran up its back and stood atop its head, ready to deliver a fatal arrow. Dorog's thrashing, however, made it difficult to retain footing, and Zarya fell off. Piper then distracted him with a few of her hoop, to which the beast started to chase her down.</p><p>Having got up, Em brushed off some of the dust on her, and tried to help Arkayna on her feet. "Arkayna? Arkayna?!"</p><p>"Mom" Was all Arkayna could say, for she was all she could think about.</p><p>"Arkayna, snap out of it!" Em said forcefully, shaking Arkayna. "We need to fight together!"</p><p>"Why?!" Arkayna said, catching Em off Guard. "Don't you see, Em?! There's nothing left to fight for! I failed. I have no reason to go on... just let him eat me."</p><p>Without warning, Arkayna found herself slapped on her right cheek. When Arkayna turned, she was surprised to see a furious looking Em. The princess couldn't believe her eyes. Did Em, one of the sweetest people she knew, as well as her best friend, just slap her? </p><p>"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" The angry dwarf said. "After all we've been through together, after what we had to go through just to get to here, you just give up?!"</p><p>"But...Em-" Arkayna tried to say, only to be cut off.</p><p>"No, you listen to me now!" Em grabbed Arkayna's shoulders, trying so hard to get through. "You're not just a dainty princess, you're not just the Mysticon Dragon Mage, you are Arkayna Goodfey! Your last name alone is legendary; The Royal Family were, and still are, brave warriors who defended the realm for generations! And if you don't stand for what your family fought for, who will?"</p><p>"But.. but.."</p><p>"Arkayna." Em spoke tearfully. "I can't begin to imagine what it's like to lose family. But I know that family is ever growing." Both turned to look at Zarya and Piper, struggling to dodge Dorog's strikes. "And right now, we need to help the family we know can still save."</p><p>Em's words sank in very quickly for Arkayna. She knew her best friend was right, no more sitting around feeling sorry for herself. Wiping the remaining tears from her eyes, Arkayna wore an expression that spelled determination. That put a wide smile on Em's face. With no time to lose, they both jumped right into the fray, joining their fellow Mysticons.</p><p>"Let's do this girls... It's Magic Hour!" Arkayna said, strong and sure.</p><p>"Well, this should be fun." Creed said with a smug grin.</p><p>Dorog dove down at the girls, only for them all to disperse, and hitting him with projectiles from their weapons. Dorog was taking damage, hissing in pain, much to Creed's dismay. In a fit of rage, Dorog then attempted another strike, which again met with failure, only getting a mouth full of concrete. Piper's hoops bounced off the walls, hitting the beast from all sides each time they bounced. The creature attempted a tail whip, which was resulted in Em cutting off it's tail, causing it to screech in pain.</p><p>Creed began to panic once again. This was his trump card, his final chance to axe the Mysticons off. If Dorog was defeated, and the Mysticons broke free, the evil crime lord wouldn't have a prayer. There was only one logical choice, he had to get out of there and bury the evidence. With that, he ran off yet again.</p><p>Finally seeing a chance to end this, The Mysticons summoned their bracers and fired their spirit animals right at Dorog, pushing him right at the small gate, his head busting said gate down. Having got up, shaking his head a little, Dorog made one last strike, just only for Zarya to shoot him in the eye with a mystic arrow. Screeching in pain, the beast opened his mouth very wide. Wide enough for Arkayna to use her staff to blast right inside the his mouth, burning his insides. With his dying breath, Dorog dropped fast and hard.</p><p>Arkayna, Piper, and Em panted pretty heavily. All three began to look at each other, and slowly started laughing in their triumph. Though this wasn't as impressive as defeating the spectral dragon, it was still exhilarating. "Wow, what a rush huh girls?" Arkayna chuckled.</p><p>"You bet!" Piper exclaimed, "first we were like, "whoa!" Then he was like, "grrr!" I mean, Wowie!"</p><p>Arkayna and Em got a few more chuckles out of the way. Yet, after the girls took another moment to inspect the crumbled statues, all laughing ceased. Though they didn't shed tears again, the sight wasn't any less heart breaking.</p><p>"Isn't there anything we can do for them?" Piper inquired, her voice a little weak.</p><p>"I think we can still save them." Em spoke out in a hopeful tone. "Maybe Zorlon and Malveron know a spell that can put them back together. Don't you think?" Em raised a point. The statues maybe crumbled, but at least they haven't been reduced to dust. If there was a spell to restore them, the remains were salvageable.</p><p>"At this point, anything is worth a try." Arkayna said, having new hope in her eyes. "All we need to do is..." Arkayna trailed off, her eyes suddenly laced with worry. "Wh-where's Zarya?"</p><p>That was when it occurred to both Piper and Em that Zarya went missing. Apparently she snuck away after their victory . They looked around the room, then at the broken down gate.</p><p>"You don't she went after Creed do you?" Em asked.</p><p>"Oh, Zarya" Arkayna whispered. She and the others knew all to well of Zarya's tendency to hold serious grudges, past experiences considered. Not to mention, she mentioned that Creed was at the top of her list. After an event like this, Arkayna knew her twin was out for blood. "Guys, call Zorlon and the others, help them with my parents in anyway you can. I'll find Zarya."</p><p>Both Em and Piper nodded their heads yes. With that, each pulled out a teleportation bracelet, which were meant to help rescue the King and Queen, and teleported to the Stronghold. Arkayna then raced off, hoping to find Zarya before she did something really, really bad.</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Boiling Point</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Creed was running quickly. Ever the brilliant mastermind, he made escape tunnels underneath his hideout, should any pursuers try to chase him. For a moment, it seemed to have worked, so he stopped to catch a breath. Then, that one familiar voice he hated so much could be heard from a small distance.</p><p>"Hey, Scale Face!" The enraged Zarya called out. "Come over here and face me!"</p><p><em>Damn it all, it's Zarya.</em> </p><p>Creed was so close, all he had to do was exit and push the button on his remote to destroy his hideout, leaving no evidence. That was difficult, however, with a pursuer on his tail. He would have detonated the place right then and there if he didn't value his own life. Still worn from running, he took to the shadows, hoping to ambush the wrathful rebel with his last resort... envenomation.</p><p>"Where are you, Creed?!" Zarya walked through the tunnels, her mystical bow at the ready. What's the matter, Scared?!"</p><p>Anger shined like a beacon in her eyes. Creed had been getting away with murder for far too long, and she was ready to end this, one way or another. One step at a time, she pointed her bow at every direction, remaining vigilant. For every step she took, Creed's lurking shadow got ever closer.</p><p>Without warning, Creed lashed out from the shadows, his fangs fully extended to inject his lethal dose. Just in time, Zarya turned and blocked the attack with her bow, Creed biting down on it, venom dripping from his fangs. Zarya then pulled backward and flipped the serpent over. Creed then tried to tail whip her. With quick thinking, Zarya fired a particularly sharp arrow and cut about a foot of his tail off, causing him to hiss in pain as that small portion of his tail wriggled on the ground erratically.</p><p>"That won't ever grow back!" Creed hissed. "You will pay for that, Moonwolf!"</p><p>With one last lunge, Creed once again extended his fangs, only for Zarya to dodge and kick him to a wall, falling on his back afterwards. Finally seeing her opening, she shot a neon rope around his jaws, closing them shut. After that, she shot another rope around his body, wrapping him up like a present. She then pinned Creed to the ground, aiming a lethal arrow mere inches from his throat.</p><p>"Tonight, it all ends." Zarya said, her tone cold as hard steel, as she readied herself to fire at point blank range.</p><p>Creed's mind was racing. <em>Is this how it ends? Am I, the Kingpin of crime, Creed Slitherwick, destined to die at the hands of a worthless street rat?</em></p><p>"Stop!" Cried out Arkayna, just before the final blow could strike. There she was, with holding her hand out to her sister. "Zarya, don't do this!"</p><p>"Don't try to stop me, Arkayna!" Zarya snapped. "This dirt bag is goin' straight to hell! He needs to pay!"</p><p>"I agree, Zarya, but this isn't the right way. He'll go straight for the Royal dungeon, there we will answer to his crimes."</p><p>"Oh, don't be stupid!" Zarya was pulling her arrow further, ready to unleash her deadly arrow. "He'll just find a way to escape, and when he does he'll start something like this all over again! Admit it, you feel the same way, don't you?!"</p><p>Arkayna then looked down on the floor, her expression disheartened. "I'm not going to lie... the very moment I found out he took our parents, I lost it. The minute he revealed them to me, all I wanted was to incinerate him... I wanted him dead." Arkayna then looked at Zarya, with a firm look. </p><p>"But you know what stopped me? I remembered something very important. My parents never raised a killer. Did yours?" With that, Arkayna dropped her staff. Whatever happened, she made it clear she wasn't going to stop her. "Go ahead, show me."</p><p>Zarya then turned her attention once again to Creed. With her rage filled eyes, she prepared to him. Yet, Zarya seemed hesitant, her arms quaking. What's the matter? Just kill him, you know you want to! She knew she had no restraint. So, why did she feel restrained? That was a rhetorical question, she knew exactly why. Arkayna was right, Zarya's adoptive parents never raised a killer, not a stone cold killer anyway.</p><p>Zarya then lowered her bow, allowing it to dissipate. She the got off of Creed and moved toward Arkayna. The younger twin then shed tears in her eyes, more so than she ever had before. As soon as Arkayna opened her arms, Zarya held her tightly, crying up a storm.</p><p>"Shhh..." Arkayna said. "It's okay, Sis. It's okay." Arkayna held Zarya warmly, as the younger twin sobbed on her shoulder. She was a little shocked at how much Zarya was crying; she hadn't cried this much since the incident back at the valley of lost ships. Not that Arkayna blamed her. Perhaps, it was about time to let all those tears out.</p><p>This warm moment wouldn't last, for Arkayna screamed in pain at the sudden sensation of two daggers stabbing in her leg. Apparently, the ever opportunistic Creed morphed into a seemingly normal viper, escaping the bonds that bounded him. Seizing the opportunity, he bit Arkayna's leg, injecting his lethal dose of venom. After the deed was done, he morphed back.</p><p>"Arkayna!" Zarya yelped, still holding on to Arkayna. Zarya was then snared in Creed's now shorter tail, being constricted in the process. This was perfect, no witnesses to see him killing the twins. And the best part, once he detonated the place, there wouldn't be a trace of evidence left.</p><p>"My, my, how the tide has changed!" Creed said in a somewhat manic tone. "Now, I can kill two birds, in one stone." </p><p>Arkayna Then collapsed, growling in pain, her blood feeling like magma. She then began panting uncontrollably.</p><p>"Look at that, she's already weak and barely able to breath! I'd give her fifteen minutes tops until she drops dead." Creed then saw Zarya struggling to breath, her eyes looked like they could pop out at anytime. "Aww, what's wrong? Is this too much for you?!"</p><p>A closer look at Creed's eyes revealed them to be bloodshot. Either he was enjoying too much, or he finally snapped. In either case, Creed tightened his coils, squeezing every inch of life out of the poor, purple haired teen.</p><p>Before Zarya completely passed out, a reddish orange beam of magic blasted Creed to the wall, causing him to let go of Zarya, who was gasping for breath soon after. Zarya then looked up to see Malveron, firing like crazy at the ruthless crimelord. Quick as he could, Creed morphed into his snake form, which allowed him to move quick enough to avoid the barrage of magical blasts.</p><p>"That's right, scurry off you dirty snake!" Malveron yelled, as he kept blasting.</p><p>Seeing a hole in the wall, Creed slithered inside, escaping the young mages sight of fire. After the nefarious serpent was gone, Malveron turned his attention to Arkayna. There she laid, still breathing but barely.</p><p>"Arkayna!" Zarya Shouted, "C' mon, get up!" When she turned the older twin over, it revealed her mouth was a bit foamy, and was sweating profusely. Zarya gasped, covering her mouth, tearing up. "No" she whispered.</p><p>"Stand back!" Malveron said. As soon as he had room, the young mage placed his hands on Arkayna's shoulder, his hand glowing a bright white aura, leading Arkayna to glow white aura as well. The process took but a mere minute.</p><p>"Well?" Zarya asked, Worried.</p><p>Malveron gave a firm look. "I managed to slow the venom, but she's still in danger. Once we get to the stronghold we can-"</p><p>Just then, they could hear the rooms upstairs exploding. Creed had done it, he set off the detonator as soon as he was out of range. No time to dawdle, the tunnels were already starting to cave in from the impact.</p><p>"We need to get the stronghold, now!" Malveron exclaimed. Without a moment to spare, he created a portal that led straight to the stronghold.</p><hr/><p>Back at the stronghold, Zorlon inspected the crumbled statues, wavering his hand, glowing a bright blue at the moment, over them. Doug, Piper, and Em waited with anticipation. After a brief moment of silence, Doug decided to ask...</p><p>"Well, how'bout it Z-man?"</p><p>Zorlon took a breath before answering. "There is a chance we can save them. Though their bodies are crumbled, their souls are still intact."</p><p>Piper and Em sighed with relief after that.</p><p>"So, what can we do?" Em asked.</p><p>"We need to make a spell circle around them. It will take some time, but it should shift the pieces together."</p><p>"How much time?" Piper questioned.</p><p>"At least an hour, seeing that it's six pieces for each statue. I'm going to need-"</p><p>The astromancer's words were cut abruptly short after Malveron, Zarya, and a barely alive Arkayna came right through the portal, catching everyone's attention. Everyone looked at Arkayna, anxious.</p><p>"Every one, Arkayna needs help, fast!" Zarya said without hesitation.</p><p>"Arkayna!" Em Shouted, rushing toward her. She took her temperature. The poor princess was burning up.</p><p>"Oh great Gygax, what happened?!" Doug Shouted out</p><p>"She's been bit by Creed!" Malveron exclaimed. "We need to make an Antivenom potion, now!" Restoring the King and queen would have to wait, this needed attention ASAP.</p><p>"He's right, there's no time to lose!" Zorlon demanded. "Doug,help me make the potion. Meanwhile, Malveron, perform more healing spells on her, slow the venom as much as you can."</p><p>With that, both Malveron and Zarya set Arkayna on the couch, Em and Piper watching helplessly. Malveron performed another healing spell, delaying the venom further, buying Zorlon and Doug as much time as he could. Zarya's eyes streamed with tears. The first blood family she met in years, and she was practically on death's door.</p><p>"Hey..." Piper said to Zarya, with big, hopeful eyes. "She's going to be just fine, just wait and see." That was just like Piper, always looking to the bright side of things even when events were at their most dire. Zarya, however, wished she could be so sure.</p><p>"Arkayna" Zarya said woefully. As she placed her hand on her twin's forehead, all she could do... was pray.</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Outcomes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Arkayna slowly opened her eyes, lightly groaning in the process. As she rose up, every muscle in her body felt like they were on fire, causing her to groan more loudly, sore from the tissue destroying venom. It took her a moment to realize that she was in her room. Not her normal room, but her room at the stronghold. Gazing at the mirror on her desk drawer, she was still in her mysticon form. She could see just how battle ravaged she was, particularly from her fight with Zarya.</p><p>Talking of which, Arkayna looked to her left side and saw Zarya in a chair, napping. If the princess had to guess, she had been there for the remainder of the night, not wanting to leave her twin's side. Poor thing must have passed out from exhaustion. After all, it had been a hell of a night.</p><p>In light of this, Arkayna got up from her bed and powered down into her civilian attire. Looking at her arms and hands, her cuts and bruises were gone. She smiled, it was nice to know the transformation heals as well. A quick look at her room clock revealed it was a little past noon. She took a quick look at Zarya with a small smile. She walked to her twin, and lightly touched her shoulder.</p><p>"Thank you, Zarya." Arkayna whispered. She was very touched by Zarya staying by her side. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel guilty for "making" her do so, given the circumstances. The kind princess then pressed her lips on her sister's forehead, just lightly enough so she wouldn't wake her. After all, she deserved some rest after last night. As she left to join the others, Zarya smiled subconsciously, knowing her twin was alright.</p><p>Back downstairs, everyone watched the news intently, waiting if the media had anything to say from last night. Sure enough...</p><p>"Serena Snakecharmer arriving on scene! This just in, a local address in one of the most dangerous parts of the Undercity had blown up. Very few locals were injured from the explosion, those that were are quickly being tended to by the astromancers."</p><p>Piper had a very tense expression, and with good reason. She knew that the worst part of this broadcast was yet to come.</p><p>"The current whereabouts of the king and queen of Drake City are still unknown as of this time." Serana then got a call on her Bluetooth, with an indiscriminate voice talking rather excitedly. "We know take you to our beloved philanthropist, Creed Slitherwick!" And there it was. "On to you, Max!"</p><p>"Thank you for lending me your ears, citizens of Drake City." Creed said, in a somber tone that was nothing more than a facade, standing at a podium in a theatre. "The news of our beloved King Darius and Queen Goodfey is indeed a terrible outcome. My sincere condolences to the royal Twins and King Gawayne. By all means, the search must continue, and we cannot rest until they are found! I certainly won't. May Gygax help us on this never ending quest."</p><p>A thunderous applause could be heard in the background, just before Serena coming back on.</p><p>"There you have it folks, despite all the despair, Mr. Slitherwick is the shining example that hope still exists in our city!"</p><p>Out of frustration, Malveron turned the TV off. "People actually believe that load of minotaur crap?" He asked irritably.</p><p>"He's good at getting people on his side, I'll at least give him that much." Doug added, earning him irritated looks from present company. "Well, he is." He responded meekly.</p><p>"A rare moment indeed, but Doug's right." Zorlon sighed. "Deception and trickery are powerful weapons that can easily fool those who are impressionable or simply <em>want</em> to believe a cause is favorable. Creed has clearly mastered this horrible art."</p><p>"And since he destroyed his hideout, there's no solid evidence that he was involved in the kidnapping." Em said.</p><p>"Ugh, I really hate that guy!" Piper exclaimed, uncharacteristically tightening her fist. Luckily, her mood changed at the sound of a familiar voice.</p><p>"I’m not exactly his biggest fan either." Arkayna's voice could be heard, causing everyone to turn quickly. There she was, almost good as new. "Hi guys." She said, waving her hand.</p><p>"Arkayna!" Em said, rushing over to Arkayna and squeezing her so tightly the Princess was starting to turn blue.</p><p>"Glad to see you too Em, though oxygen is starting to become a pressing issue." Arkayna squeaked, to which the dwarf released her.</p><p>"Don't you scare us like that again, we really thought you weren't gonna make it!" Malveron said, quick to embrace Arkayna. Though she seemed shocked at first, the young mages hug was so warm and caring that she welcomed it. "I'm glad you're okay." he whispered.</p><p>Arkayna smiled, lightly blushing. "Thank you." She whispered. Everyone seemed glad to see her. Well, maybe not everyone.</p><p>"Arkayna." Zorlon said, his tone sounding rather stern. "May I speak with you for a moment?"</p><p> </p><p>Arkayna flinched at that a little. She had a feeling she knew what this was about. She looked to the others, but were all kind of hiding behind Doug. Arkayna sighed. Time to take her lumps.</p><p>"Of course... Zorlon." She said sheepishly.</p><p>They made their way to Zorlon's study. Arkayna clutched her right arm, looking disheartened. As soon as he shut the door behind them, Zorlon let out a heavy sigh. A brief moment of silence filled the study until Zorlon finally spoke.</p><p>"I'm glad you're alright, Arkayna." Zorlon said. "I'm glad the anti venom potion worked." Zorlon's voice that began getting more stern. "But I'm still highly disappointed by your actions that led to it. You should have known better, Arkayna."</p><p>"I know." Arkayna said sheepishly.</p><p>"And what's worse, you put your own teammates in danger. You put your own sister in danger!"</p><p>"I know!" Arkayna said a little louder than she wanted. She allowed herself a deep breath before finishing. "I know. Believe me, I feel bad enough as it is about the whole thing."</p><p>"It's one thing to regret your actions, but it's another thing entirely to <em>consider</em> all consequences before they happen. What if we didn't make the potion in time? What if you didn't get out of the basilisk pen in time? What if Zarya wasn't cured of the rage magic?"</p><p>Arkayna let his words sink in. Apparently, the others told him everything. She couldn't exactly blame her solon's frustration. Perhaps things would have turned out differently if she had just told everyone about the note she received from Creed. Alas, they may never know.</p><p>Arkayna rubbed her arm rather harshly, knowing the full gravity of her mistake. Her guilt worsened even further at the thought of the snake bite. Not only did it freak her out that she almost died, but knowing her friends were worried about her, especially Zarya, filled her with even more guilt.</p><p>Those thoughts in mind, she moved closer to Zorlon, leaning on his shoulder, whimpering. "I'm sorry, Zorlon. I really am." She said weakly. "All I wanted was to have my parents back, and I nearly got everyone killed doing it."</p><p>Zorlon warmly placed both his hands on her shoulders, more understanding of the situation. "Arkayna..." He said, his tone soft. "Believe me, I get it. Not a day goes by when all I wanted was to help my loved ones. You just need to understand that the lives of your new family is just as important."</p><p>"I just don't know how I'm gonna make it up to everyone." Arkayna was once again on the verge of tears by this point.</p><p>"Admitting your mistake is your first step. How you handle your mistake from here is what matters."</p><p>Arkayna held on to Zorlon for what seemed like hours, but was a mere ten minutes in reality. She knew she had to face her teammates about this, but at the moment, she needed to mentally prepare herself.</p><p>After the full ten minutes of mental preparation, Arkayna finally emerged from the study, Zorlon leading her to the others. Everyone was looking at her with anticipation, not knowing what was going on. After a deep breath, Arkayna had this to say.</p><p>"Listen everyone. I know that, the past few days I've been... to be blunt, a little bitchy, and reckless too. I was just so fed up with feeling so helpless, unable to help my parents when they're right there in front of me. I was willing to do anything save them. If everyone still feels a little sore about all this, especially you Piper, I'll be happy to give up my position as leader of the Mysticons."</p><p>The room fell into silence for a good while. For a moment, it seemed like they were thinking about that. Piper then approached Arkayna with a seemingly sour face. Arkayna looked down on the floor, ready for any yelling the young elf had in store.</p><p>Yet, to Arkayna's surprise, she found herself wrapped in Piper's arms, who held her tight. Arkayna couldn't help but hug back. "Does this mean we're good?" She asked.</p><p>"Always" Piper said, shortly before pulling back.</p><p>"You're not alone Arkayna." Em said. "You're never alone. We'll always be there for you."</p><p>Arkayna couldn't help but smile. Never had she been so blessed to be surrounded by people who cared about her. Which reminded her... "Where are my parents?"</p><p>"Hey, don't worry." Doug said. "They're good as new." He then pointed her to the newly restored bone statues of the king and queen.</p><p>Arkayna didn't hesitate to embrace her mother in her arms, smiling. "Thank you... so much." She said.</p><p>After about a minute, Arkayna then had a new resolve in her eyes.</p><p>"Listen everyone. This evening, I'll announce that my parents are back, safe and sound. After that, we need to double security in the Palace, Creed, nor anyone else will ever touch my parents ever again."</p><p>As everyone cheered in agreement, Zorlon left them to it. Things seemed to have wrapped up nicely, the King and Queen were restored, safe and sound at the palace, and the Mysticons all returned alive. Surely this would be a happy ending. Yet, as Zorlon knew all too well, life was never that simple.</p><p>"Gold piece for your thoughts, old master?" A smug tone could be heard. Zorlon turned to see Tazma in her snow globe, amused by the unfortunate ordeal. "That insignificant worm won't be the last to know who the Mysticons are, you know? Eventually, everyone will know who the Mysticons are. When that happens, they, nor their loved ones, will be safe."</p><p>Without saying a word, Zorlon placed a sheet over Tazmas' globe, not wanting look at her after that remark, then walked away. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder, if she was right.</p><p>"Great Gygax" Zorlon said, rubbing his forehead.</p><hr/><p>Slitherwick tower, perhaps the second tallest building in Drake City, being dwarfed only by the Royal Palace. Atop the tower sat a golden snake statue, sitting up in a proud manner, with a smile. One might think this was to symbolize hope or prosperity, showing a softer side to snakes. Poor fools. No one realizes that the towers' proprietor gave snakes a bad name. This was where Creed did his work as a philanthropist.</p><p>There Creed was, tapping on his desk with a pen, looking rather irritated. On his phone, which he projected a screen into the air with, he watched a video with Arkayna announcing the safe return of her parents. Gawayne, of course, tried to take credit for the ordeal, much to the Arkayna and Zarya's strong disapproval.</p><p>"How such an impudent brat like him is ever deemed fit to rule the city is a mystery I find rather vexing." Creed said to himself. Just then, Seragus slithered in, bringing him forms to sign.</p><p>"It was a good plan on your part sir." Seragus said. "Though I would be lying if I said Zarya's involvement in the matter was unforeseen."</p><p>"Yes." Creed sighed. "I suppose that was a major factor, in retrospect. However..." his cynical frown then turned into a malicious smile. "This is only a minor bump in the road. So long as I know their identities, none of them will be safe."</p><p>"True, though it occurs to me that the only one we don't recognize is the dwarf." Seragus pointed out. "All we know is that she's the Mysticon Knight, yet more than that we don't know. In that respect, her identity is safe."</p><p>"She's associated with them and that's what matters." Creed said. "Besides, that neophyte, Mathis, had met all four of them on several occasions, I'm sure he might have caught her name at least once." He them got up from his desk, and walked toward a large window, which provided a great view of the city. "What a beautiful city. One way, or another, it will be mine. This, I swear." He finished, menacingly.</p><p>Creed looked on at Drake City, more passionate on his ambitions than ever before.</p>
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